Seattle, WA, USA--(Jobwerx News)--Large plastics molding pressroom sees efficiency improvements, minimized parts handling and leaner process flow with conveyor system, integrated PLC control and robotics.
The less you handle large parts, the better.

Mack Molding's southern Inman, S.C., facility recently installed an Omni-Metalcraft 300-ft part conveyor with integrated PLC control and three clamp-end deposit robots from Engel Automation and Sterling to service the large pressroom.

Streamlining Process Flow - Photo courtesy of Mack Molding

"With these new systems in place, we're already seeing efficiency improvements, minimized parts handling and leaner process flow, all of which leads to lower costs for our customers," says Operations Director Joe Carinci. "What used to be a significant bottleneck in parts handling has been streamlined into a leaner process flow, with many secondary operations performed directly from the conveyor system prior to parts packaging. This has been a critical step for us," he continues, "especially with the recent addition of our third large press -- a 3300-tonner -- and the expected addition of a fourth."

To better serve the large-part market, Mack has built a stand-alone 25,000-sq-ft molding facility at its Inman plant that now houses a 2500-, 3000- and 3300-ton press, ratcheting up Mack's large press total (1000-3300 tons) to 30 machines.

Mack sees growing opportunities in several market sectors for its large tonnage machines, including heavy truck parts, large screen TVs, recreational and utility vehicles, and medical devices.

The new presses, installed last October, are all twin platen machines from the Van Dorn Demag Caliber Series, and are fully equipped with robotics for part removal. To service its large press room at the Inman plant, Mack has installed a Sterling central loading and drying system.

Mack is a private plastics molding contract manufacturer that specializes in plastics design, prototyping and molding, as well as sheet metal fabrication. The company operates 12 facilities throughout the eastern U.S., Scotland and Mexico totaling 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing space. Alone, Mack operates 117 presses in six locations throughout the eastern United States.